All Forum Posts by: Alex Grosvenor

@Jordan Tiger Let’s say Meet Kevin is correct and you buy a property the value goes down temporarily then what? My mortgage didn’t change. My tenants rent isn’t changing. And if it is it’s going up. If you never sell why does it matter what the value is for a “brief drop in price”. I think you using this isn’t the right time is an excuse. That’s just one mans opinion.

Real Estate is a business. In business people do business with other people they know, like, and trust. It is your job to make sure the sellers get to know, like, and trust you in the very short amount of time you have speaking with them.

It is better to meet face to face until you get really good at that then go ahead to moving stuff to calls and zooms and online. Putting names to faces and seeing smiles makes people a lot more comfortable than a phone call or email. 

I would also like to see how you’re even running your numbers. As you are new and a lot of wholesalers run their numbers wrong as it is, it would be best for you to learn how to get the numbers down so you don’t over pay for a property and you can wholesale it to someone experienced who knows how to close. It also builds a reputation for you giving correct numbers and being different from the rest of the big name wholesalers out there. Being as young and new as you are you need to do everything you can to stand out and be different. It may not be easy but it is possible. 

Seller financing can be done. A lot of investors in DFW I speak with do owner financing one homes they have. Typically that means they want a big down payment and for you to pay more for the house than the house is worth and it's usually at 7% ish APR. Seller/owner financing are usually used for people who have bad credit but a lot of cash. Also mainly used for houses in bad neighborhoods. Usually investors tend to keep the good neighborhood properties as rentals. They deal with finding the tenant maintenance and all that other jazz. But the appreciation is worth it. The investor doing seller finance takes out the maintenance and vacancy and appreciation aspect of it all but it's really good cash flow for them.

Finding a seller finance home in a good neighborhood shouldn’t be that hard, however, it’s the one in a good neighborhood where they don’t expect a huge down payment that is going to be the tough part. 

I would say if the numbers work then the numbers work. If you can find a seller finance deal with not crazy of an interest rate or a crazy down payment and you can rent it out for more than you’re paying who cares if it’s a seller finance deal or not? 

Just focus on finding the deal. If it’s really a good deal the money is out there to do it. But you just have to find the right deal. Seller financed or not.

@Guillermo S. Commercial Real estate is a different animal than residential real estate. Things get handled differently in most aspects of the transaction. I think getting into commercial and industrial as well as residential  real estate is a little far fetched for anyone to do starting off (if you plan on doing it all at once).

If you plan on just focusing on commercial real estate it can be done while in college, but it will be a lot of work. Being a real estate agent is a full time job, not part time to where you can do it here and there and expect results to happen. It takes a lot of hours of working with 0 pay until it pays off usually for about a year. Could be sooner, could be later, but those hours will have to be put in for a long time before the money starts rolling in.

You are in charge of how much you make, how hard you work, and what hours you put in. There will be someone to support you most likely as a new agent, but if you choose not to work it doesn't affect anybody but you. Nobody is going to make you work. Being a real estate agent is truly running your own business and being your own boss. At the very end of it all you are on your own boss, you make your hours, you determine your pay, and you decide what to do or not do. 

KW does have a big influence here in DFW but are they going to teach you the ropes around your schedule? Can you handle their fees? Are you okay with the splits? Are you getting a mentor? What kind of training does that KW offer? Whats the cap? Each office is different including each KW office. Do some research and find a broker that fits what you're looking for. I'm not saying they aren't great I'm just saying there are a lot of brokerages out there. Find which brokerage works best for you not just because they have a big influence. 

Lastly, being a big influence doesn't mean KW will give you leads or deals or people to talk to or the best training or any money at all will ever come out of being affiliated with them. It just means they are well known. That is all. I hope this helps!

Hey Carlos, That's an extremely broad statement. How big is the house? What is being done to the kitchen or bathroom? Are you keeping cabinets and repainting them or getting all new ones? Are you refinishing the bathtub or replacing it? There are a lot of moving parts to a rehab and it is very detailed and in depth.

I would read the book that is here on BiggerPockets. It is called The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs: The Investor's Guide to Defining Your Renovation Plan, Building Your Budget, and Knowing Exactly How Much It All Costs by J Scott. It is like $13 on Amazon and will save you thousands.

I know super long title. But that should get you to cover all your bases. Theres a lot more in that book than I could ever teach you so I hope that helps!

Dallas County is very saturated with wholesalers and investors alike. A lot of people mailing the same properties. Be consistent and don't stop until it works.

I wish you good luck on your journey! You can't fail if you never quit. 

@William Corcoran I am not sure what you mean by contacts. Connect with me offline and we can talk more about it!

There are tons of little meet ups that you can attend! Be sure to look out for events called THE EVENT as well as Texas Investor Club events in the upcoming year of 2021. They both should have something once a month. There’s a lot of good very successful people who go to both of those events. 

Also reach out to @Richard Helppie-Schmieder he put together a small get together this past weekend for a couple of us. Great guy and we’re supposed to do it monthly so ask to join! 

@Hayden Lyon That's a lot of good stuff right there. You're still finding and doing some BRRRR deals which is more than most people can say about 2020.

It always seems that way doesn't it? Property has been passed up so many times.Sat on the MLS for 240 days then you offer on it. Next thing you know 3 more offers came in that day either before you or after you. It never had any offers before. Ain't that just the name of the game! Lol. It's all a numbers game. The more houses you look at the more offers you put in, the more offers you put in the more that get accepted. That's Real Estate in the market were in right now. Whether people are investing or just buying a home it's just that competitive.

Your network is your net worth. I believe that fully so go out there and try to find some like minded people! Could solve your limited money and limited deals problem. Just a thought!

@Bruce Lynn Always putting out very solid information. 

As I would agree that MOST wholesalers have way too high fo ARVs, don't know how to estimate rehabs, and don't know what they are talking about in general. The smaller ones have less of a buyers list. Less of a reputation, but still tend to not know what they're talking about. I have a couple of deals from wholesalers right now that are great flips. They don't have the rental income required to be a good deal for BRRRR strategies though.

Just the same MLS deals are hard to come by a lot more competitive and everyone on the MLS and wholesale sides both always are using hard money. It's very hard to go in there with a conventional loan for most of these houses. Either they aren't livable or everyone else is offering more/has cash offers.

Doing direct mailing, cold calls/texts is the best bet. But that's not cheap to do and it also requires time. Maybe not time as in hours spent putting in work, but its going to take multiple mailings or calls from VAs or lots of door knocking. That could take even longer than finding a deal on the MLS or from a wholesaler. It's going to take a couple of months most likely unless you get lucky. You're still competing with wholesalers going off market because everyone is mailing mainly the same people. Everyone is calling mainly the same people. So theres even still competition.

Only difference is it's less competition than on the MLS or on a wholesale list and you cut a lot of the fees out doing it this way. Small fish in a big town is very true for any investor starting out.

Whether you have a lot money or not most time you're going to be beat out because people are faster and they know the game better than you because they've been doing it longer. They know where to get better pricing for materials, they have better contractor rates than you do, and they probably have cheaper hard money rates than you do. It all comes from doing it a long time, making connections and building relationships. Don't be discouraged by the big sharks. They all started out as small fish just like you are.  You just gotta be patient and don't chase the deal that will get you in trouble. The deal will come to you eventually. 

Best of luck!